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The Compelling Argument for “Calm the F**k Down, Influencers”
When unbridled enthusiasm backfires in influencer marketing.
by Tod Maffin (LinkedIn • all social media)
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Today's News:
INFLUENCERS • Why Big Influencers Should Chill Out
META • Cheaper “Verified” Subscriptions Coming?
REELS • Instagram Still Testing Longer Videos
THREADS • Trending Posts Now Shown in the U.S.
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INFLUENCERS • Why Big Influencers Should Chill Out
In a world where social media influencers are the new celebrities, a recent study throws light on how the size of an influencer's following influences the impact of their endorsements.
Researchers have discovered that the effectiveness of an influencer's message varies greatly depending on their audience size.
For those with fewer than 100,000 followers:
A high-energy, enthusiastic approach with words like “Obsessed!” and the use of emojis and exclamation marks is more effective. This strategy, as long as it appears genuine, can include calls to action like “Order it here now.”
For influencers boasting more than a million followers:
They find more success with informational messaging. Their posts should educate rather than overtly promote, using phrases like “Find out more here” to avoid appearing inauthentic.
This difference in strategies stems from the perception of influencers by their audiences.
Micro-influencers are seen as more relatable and genuine, making their excited endorsements more persuasive.
Macro-influencers, viewed as professional advertisers, risk losing trust with overly enthusiastic promotions.
The study, which analyzed over 20,000 Instagram and TikTok sponsored posts, highlights that a 10% increase in excited language boosts engagement by 5.4% for micro-influencers but decreases it by 8.4% for macro-influencers.
Interestingly, the negative effects of over-excitement in macro-influencers' posts can be mitigated by including both positive and negative judgments or focusing on informative content.
The study is called How High-Arousal Language Shapes Micro- Versus Macro-Influencers’ Impact. It was published recently in the Journal of Marketing.
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META • Cheaper “Verified” Subscriptions Coming?
Reuters is reporting today that Meta is considering a significant price cut for its Verified subscription package on Facebook and Instagram.
The proposed adjustment would see monthly fees drop from 10 euros to 6 euros for individual users, with additional accounts potentially being charged 4 euros instead of the current 6 euros.
As you’ve probably guessed by now, this is because of pressure from the European Union's Digital Market Act and will likely only apply in Europe.
Europe is mad at Meta for even having the fees in the first place.
Meta’s documentation says the paid subscription:
Some European lawmakers liken that to charging users a coercive fee to maintain their privacy, a plan being called “Pay or Okay.”
REELS • Instagram Still Testing Longer Videos
As Instagram continues to chase TikTok, Meta is letting more people upload longer Reels to the app. Some Instagram users are getting notifications saying they can now upload three-minute long Reels.
This is definitely welcome, especially for those who are creating longer content for TikTok and want to repurpose it to other vertical platforms.
Currently, for most users, the limit is 90 seconds.
Instagram has been tinkering this with a while — some tests were even allowing 10 minute uploads. To be honest, I’m not sure what their hesitancy is or even why the slow rollout. It’s not a new format, and just brings it in line with what other platforms offer.
Plus, Instagram even sometimes pops up a note saying:
Also strange, this test appears to only work for uploading videos. If you’re recording a Reel live with your camera, you’ll still be stuck at the shorter length.
TikTok this week launched its new Creator Rewards Program where users get more money for longer clips.
Of course longer videos are much easier to monetize and, if they’re long enough, might even permit a mid-roll to be snuck in.
In January, Meta said Reels consumption is up 20% year-over-year.
THREADS • Trending Posts Now Shown in the U.S.
Continuing the Meta-copies-everyone theme, its Twitter clone Threads today added a long-requested feature: A Trending section.
Unlike on X, though, where that section tries to summarize topics, the Threads version shows you the specific post that’s going viral, along with the user who posted it.
Despite Meta saying they were trying to stay away from news and politics, three of the five trending topics when we checked this morning were about the two main U.S. presidential candidates.
For now, it’s only available to Americans — or, more accurately, to people with a U.S. IP address (do with that information what you will).
It might be a good place to check in with periodically to see if there’s anything gaining traction that your brand could jump in on.
Meanwhile on X, the Trending section appears to actually be gone now, or at least bugged out. In the box where it usually appears, for me, it just reads: “No items”.
FACEBOOK • The Poke is Back!
Do you remember the Facebook poke?
In its early days, it was a way of saying hello, or “I’m thinking of you.” But some people felt it was creepy, and Facebook felt it cluttered the UI.
So they dropped it. But they didn’t get rid of it entirely. It’s always been there, if you were willing to do a lot of digging around. Business Insider today quipped that “you'd need a pith helmet and satellite phone to reach” it.
Now, apparently, Facebook is unearthing the poke.
And apparently, the younger generations are loving it.
Poke is now an option when you search someone's name on Facebook
Meta says more than half of the poking is being done by people aged 18-29. Remember, for them, it’s probably new. Back when Poking was much more a thing, they weren’t old enough to be on Facebook.
The Poke is a perfect low-effort way to connect with a Facebook friend you haven't seen in a while.
It's a little bit nostalgic and surprising, a little cheeky but friendly.
And Facebook desperately needs something like that — a way to actually be useful for connecting with people you know IRL.
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